Louis van Gaal confirmed he was sounded out by Tottenham about the possibility of succeeding Andre Villas-Boas last month, while revealing he has a long-standing ambition to work in the Premier League.

Van Gaal will lead his native Holland into next summer’s World Cup finals and insisted he could not consider a job share with Spurs in the second half of this season as his focus is trained on preparations for Brazil 2014.

“Everybody knows that and I can admit it,” he said when asked by Sky Sports whether he had held talks about becoming Tottenham boss last month.

“I don’t do things in double [two jobs at once]. You have to give an example to your players that they have to focus on the national team and that is my ambition also.

“I have refused [Tottenham job], but maybe there will come another chance. That is the difficulty with coaching. When you are free, then maybe there are no vacancies.

“When you are working, then there are vacancies. It is always difficult. After the World Cup I shall retire or, if there is a Premier League club, I shall think about it.

On working in the Premier League he added. “I want to work in the Premier League. It is the only league I have not worked in yet.

“I worked in Spain and Germany and I also want to try and coach here [in England]. I think Spain, Germany and England are the three strongest competitions, so this is an ambition. Who knows?”